All eyes on CAF as disciplinary committee meets on Libya, Nigeria AFCON fiasco

LFF begs for mercy, blames govt for diverting Eagles’ flight

The Confederation of AFrican Football (CAF) is expected to announce its verdict on the botched Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Libya and Nigeria this week.

The body, which gave the two parties to the dispute up till yesterday to submit documents to back their claims in the dispute, is expected to start sitting today and deliver its verdict this week.

Libya were billed to host Nigeria in a Group D Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifier in Benghazi, on October 15, but the Super Eagles boycotted the match when their plane was diverted to Al Abraq Airport, where they were held for over 16 hours without food, water or access to the Internet.

After boycotting the game, Nigeria petitioned CAF over their “inhumane” treatment by Libya, just as the Libya Football Federation (LFF) appointed a lawyer to defend it against the charges and possibly award the match to it.

CAF last week appointed a committee to investigate the incident and punish any of the parties found culpable in the crisis.

The crisis has reportedly polarised CAF with Morocco and Tunisia allegedly mobilising the Arab nations to support Libya’s cause. The Libyans have also raised concerns about possible collusion from some parties within CAF.

While fielding their response to CAF’s query on the botched game, the LFF pleaded with the African football governing body to temper justice with mercy claiming that the body has no hand in the incident that led to the cancellation of the game.

According to the Secretary General, Nasser Al-Suwale, who is supervising the body following the recent resignation of its president, the order to divert the plane to Al-Abraq Airport was made by the Libyan government and